Madeira – photography trip 2025 – Part 4
The next day, if I remember correctly, we skipped sunrise and started with an easier program. We walked to the viewpoint called Miradouro dos Balcões. It’s a completely easy route, practically without elevation gain, about 1.5 kilometers along a built pathway. The place lies at the edge of the Laurisilva laurel forest. In clear weather, you can supposedly see Pico do Arieiro, Pico Ruivo, and the mountain ridges stretching between them. We missed that view, but the fog was spectacular.
I had to make a 360° panorama of it as well.
The birds also paid us a visit.
After the walk, we headed to the nearby Aguage Waterfall, just a few kilometers away. You can park in a small village and then reach the valley with a short walk of a few minutes.
For the afternoon program, we chose Arieiro. This time the fog was very high. From the viewpoint next to the parking lot, we didn’t go any further. The fog frequently covered us as well, and we were essentially hunting for the moments when something emerged from it. At least I managed to photograph a fogbow. We waited for sunset there, but we didn’t really see much of it in the end.
We began our last full day on the island at the so-called “smelly” rock. Its proper name is Ilhéu de Santa Cruz. It’s located right next to the airport. You can reach this tiny rocky area via a small staircase. It got the “smelly” nickname because some people take care of certain needs by the stairs leading down to the shore, which creates some unmistakable odors for a few meters. There is also a very small cave down there. If you ever go there, DO NOT go inside and absolutely DO NOT smell into the cave…
Since it was early, I mainly experimented with long exposures, trying to capture the larger waves. The nearby islands mentioned in the previous part were also visible.
In the afternoon, we visited Seixal again and the surrounding volcanic rock formations.
For sunset, we went to the western end of the island. I did a bit of exploratory there.
I photographed a 360° panorama as well.
The concept was that if we caught optimal conditions, the layers of the mountains along the island’s side could look spectacular in the setting sunlight. The weather wasn’t entirely in our favor, but the sunset was still beautiful.
We started the closing day of the tour with sunrise again at the São Lourenço Peninsula. Now that we had at least minimal local knowledge, everyone could approach things a bit more freely. I think the sunrise was slightly more spectacular than the previous time.
The highly varied rock patterns and the beautifully clear water continued to amaze me.
It turned out that the rock rising from the water that I mentioned in Part 2, where the breaking waves likely shot several meters high, is actually hollow. Since I was there again, with some difficulty I managed to photograph the sunrise through the hole in the rock.
Because we were flying home in the afternoon, we didn’t go deeper into the peninsula this time. Ildikó and Laci didn’t come here either. We headed to the capital, parked the car in a parking garage, and the others followed us. We spent the remaining time sightseeing and having lunch. In a park near the parking garage, I saw this unusual flower, Bird of Paradise (known in Hungarian as papagájvirág). It’s a tropical ornamental plant, and there are many of them in Madeira.
We also checked out the harbor. Meanwhile, Ildikó and Laci arrived as well.
Now with the full team, we went for lunch. We ate at a cozy outdoor place. Then Dávid mentioned a pancake house he hadn’t been able to try on his previous trip. Once the word “pancake” was spoken, I didn’t need much convincing. After a bit of searching, we found the place, Loft Brunch e Cocktails. I didn’t know how large the pancakes would be, so to be safe I ordered two. Both were delicious, but I preferred the one called Etna. As for the portion size… after lunch, one would have been more than enough. It was difficult, but I managed to finish both. A big portion and very tasty. After that, we went back to the waterfront. The others stayed in the shade, but I went out to the harbor and did one last bit of sunbathing to prepare for the winter weather back home. Eventually, we headed to the airport and went through security. The flight home was smooth as well. If I remember correctly, we landed shortly after midnight. A minibus took us back to the cars. We drove home, and I went straight to bed.
A few thoughts about the whole tour. It was my first time here, but probably not the last. The island is limited in space, so many streets are narrow. Because of the high mountains, there are brutally steep sections in places. Due to the nature of the program, we didn’t have much interaction with locals. We mainly visited the local supermarket a few times and ate a few lunches/dinners at different restaurants. In Porto Moniz, I would highlight Vila 77 North, we had lunch there one day, and their burger was excellent. English worked smoothly in most places; where it didn’t, we still managed.
In terms of transportation, the island’s dual carriageway express road is very practical. If I remember correctly, 90 km/h was the highest posted speed limit I saw. Let’s just say that the 90 is treated rather flexibly. We split the driving so that I drove one day, Balázs the next. By the end, we had gotten used to the car. I generally like driving dynamically, but sometimes people overtook us as if the 90 sign were merely a suggestion. That’s probably not specific to Madeira, though. The on-ramps were unusual because there basically aren’t any. As far as I remember, the road simply curves onto the expressway, no acceleration lane. Fortunately, drivers pay attention in these places and let you merge properly.
It’s clear that things operate with a tourist-oriented mindset there. At the more notable locations, hiking trails, parking areas, etc., are well developed. Most of the roads are perfectly smooth.
It was a great introductory trip, but there’s still plenty of potential left in the island. At Pico Ruivo, for example, we couldn’t even look around properly because of the fog. We didn’t do much serious city exploration either. On the last day, while walking around the capital, I really felt the urge to photograph there as well. We saw so many strings of lights turned off, they must look spectacular at night. Next time, I definitely want to do some evening city photography too.
Before the end of the year, this November adventure in warm weather and such a wonderful environment was truly refreshing. Thanks to Dávid for organizing it, and thanks to the others for the great company and cooperation! It was an amazing experience!